Facebook for place branding done right – the Obermutten story
Kelly Johnson’s acronym KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) rings true for the story of how the tiny village of Obermutten, Switzerland went global.
How does a village of just 79 residents become a global success? With a Facebook page and some sincerity, anything is possible.
The mayor of Obermutten presented the Facebook project in the video below (only in Swiss German). Simply enough, all fans that like the page will be featured on the local bulletin board as a personal thank you. He then thanks the page’s very first fan, the local restaurant owner.
The next video (also in Swiss German) shows the mayor thanking the next ten fans:
The Jung von Matt/Limmat campaign then took off as shown in their video:
The success of the this campaign, in my opinion, lies in its sincerity. Every new fan receives a warm welcome. Every question and comment on the fan page is answered. Every delay in getting the pictures posted is announced. The follow through is impeccable, and the fans get a chance to interact with real residents of the village, not just some high-profile agency. These activities remind me of the most effective customer service actions, that are often appreciated, yet seldom carried out correctly. Also, there is a genuine fun factor of looking through the pictures to find one’s picture on a wall somewhere in a small village in Switzerland.
What did it take to make this happen? Here are some of the main statistics mentioned in the video:
- Budget. 10,000 Swiss francs (about 8,300 €, £ 7,000 or $11,000)
- ROI. 2.4 million Swiss francs media equivalent
- Reach. 60 million, fans from 32 countries on every continent
- Activity. Most active Facebook page in Switzerland
- Engagement. 4 out of 5 fans interact with the page – more than Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Coca Cola
- Competition. More Facebook fans than Saint Moritz, Helsinki and Florence
- Website traffic. +250% traffic to the Graubünden tourism website
- Kudos. Thousands have promised to visit, hundreds already have
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